Electronic records, e.g., emails, documents, videos, photographs, music, etc., are typically stored on a computer system and organized by a classifier that defines decision boundaries to separate records from each other within the computer system. Folder-based classification allows a user to build a classifier by creating a folder set, wherein each folder within the folder set is instantiated by a number of exemplary records based on some arbitrary similarity, i.e., distance, between the records. The folder set as a whole acts as the classifier, wherein new records are compared against the user-created folder set and can be automatically sorted into the most appropriate folder. If the distance between a record and the folders is more than a threshold value, then the record is sorted into a default folder.
While conventional folder-based classifiers are generally useful record management tools, a considerable amount of time and effort must be invested by the user to initialize and continually maintain the classifier. For example, folder sets of many conventional folder-based classifiers must be manually added to, or deleted from, a folder set; and the contents thereof must be manually modified to reflect the user's evolving needs.
Accordingly, a system and method for implementing a folder-based classifier that automatically creates a folder set, that automatically adds folders to, and deletes folders from, the to folder set, and that automatically modifies the contents of existing folders based on user feedback would be beneficial.